The effect of high-, moderate-, and low-fat diets on weight loss and cardiovascular disease risk factors.

The consumption of high-fat diets may increase cardiovascular disease risk.

This study evaluated the effect of fat diets on weight loss, lipid profile, and cardiovascular disease risk factors. Researchers placed 100 men and women on either low-, high-, calorie unrestricted moderate-, or calorie controlled moderate-fat diets for one year. The weight and serum concentrations of several biomarkers of cardiovascular diseases, such as lipoprotein {Lp (a)}, homocysteine (Ho), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) of all the subjects were assessed every 4 months through the entire duration of the study.

At the end of the dietary intervention, researchers observed a significant weight loss in subjects given high-, low-, and calorie controlled moderate-fat diets. Decreased serum concentrations of TGs, TC, LDL-C, and TC/HDL ratio were found in the low-fat and calorie controlled moderate fat groups. Increased plasma levels of cardiovascular disease biomarkers and risk were linked to high-fat diets in this study. The results of this study show that while high-, low-, and calorie controlled moderate-fat diets contribute positively to weight loss, only high-fat diets are associated with the development of cardiovascular diseases.